New Delhi, Jun 15: India today ruled out any irregularity in the adoption of children from an orphanage to Denmark after an initial inquiry revealed that the adoption was done after the consent of biological father.

The Central Adoption Resource Agency, a nodal agency under the ministry of Women and Child Development, had ordered an investigation into the media reports of Denmark suspending all adoption from India as a documentary showed a parent claiming that his children were taken away without his consent.

According to CARA Chairman J.K. Mittal, a preliminary inquiry has since been undertaken and it has come to light from available documents that the biological father himself approached the concerned adoption agency in Pune through a social worker to make his four children available for adoption/rehabilitation and they were not abducted.

The inquiry report said that on a stamped paper, the biological father gave his consent on April 9, 2002 to the concerned agency 'Preet Mandir' to place his four children for adoption. This consent forms part of the relinquishment deed, which was signed, by his sister and brother-in-law as witnesses and the same was countersigned by the Chairman, Juvenile Welfare Board. The deed was written in Marathi, the mother tongue of the biological father who is stated to be a matriculate so it could easily be understood by him, the report said.

Earlier, the license of the concerned adoption agency--Preet Mandir- was suspended but was recently revoked temporarily. A CBI inquiry into the activities of the agency was also awaited.

A documentary film broadcast in Copenhegan recently had shown orphanage manager J Bhasin, filmed with hidden camera, saying that a child cost 7000 dollars. The Denmark Government said children adopted in Denmark could not be bought and it was also against international law, so it suspended all adoption from India.

The documentary showned one Ramesh Kulkarne alleging that after his wife's death, he had put his two children temporarily in the orphanage, but he was barred from seeing them there for years. In April this year, he learned that his children had been adopted in Denmark through AC International Child Support.

NEW DELHI: A day after Denmark announced it had suspended all adoptions from India, the Central Adoption Resources Agency (CARA) on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the Pune-based orphanage, Preet Mandir.

Central Adoption Resources Agency chairperson J K Mittal said, "The matter is being investigated. I have given instructions to collect all paperwork regarding the institution."

Denmark suspended all adoptions from India after a news report claimed that some of the children who have been adopted could have been abducted. Mittal added that the licence for the orphanage had been suspended in the past after CARA received complaints from various quarters.

"We had renewed the licence on a temporary basis but there is an inquiry pending against them. We will take all steps to ensure that the issue is probed thoroughly," Mittal added.

According to agency reports, Denmark's consumer and family affairs minister Carina Christensen had expressed concern over the "conditions" in which adoptions had taken place.

Christensen had ordered the Danish authorities to investigate AC International Child Support, one of Denmark's two government-approved adoption agencies. The organisation was accused in a TV documentary of having received children from an orphanage in Pune without the biological parents' approval.

In the documentary that was broadcast two days ago, Ramesh Kulkarne claimed that after his wife's death, he had temporarily put his two children in Preet Mandir orphanage.

Kulkarne said that for years, he was barred from seeing his children at the orphanage. In April, Kulkarni learned that the pair had been adopted in Denmark in 2003 through AC International Child Support.

The Denmark-based agency said it had stopped cooperating with Preet Mandir in June 2003 after repeated reports about the agency management's use of unethical methods. The documentary showed orphanage manager J Bhasin, filmed with a hidden camera, saying that a child costs $7,000.

Indian children are 'popular' for inter-country adoption. The US tops the list of overseas adoptions from India with 945 Indian children having found homes in that country over the past three years.

Italy comes next with 419 Indian children being adopted in the past three years. Spain follows with 301 adoptions and Denmark with 194.